Is the Housing Bubble in British Columbia starting to deflate? Will the Housing Crash in the US have an impact on Canada's Real Estate......Canada's Economy?

Friday, February 2, 2007

Is Vancouver's Housing Market Overheated?? If so, like the US, it will probably correct.

America’s best and worst housing marketsSellers are loving Seattle, Detroit area is stuck in the doldrums

"Steadier, more tempered growth translates into a stable real estate conditions because affordability remains in line with local economic conditions."

"While speculators and flippers in places such as Boston and San Diego are running for cover, in other parts of the country they are basking in robust residential sales."

"Cities showing gains exhibited high job growth and positive net migration figures. They were also areas in which home affordability remained close to national averages through the boom, making them less prone to the corrections and adjustments seen in overheated markets. "

"From 2004 to 2005, median homes prices in most of the cities that are now resisting downturn, such as Austin and Charlotte, grew at slower rates than the national average. "

"This made them less susceptible to the sudden swings of a high-flying, highly speculative market such as Miami. In this area, median home price exploded from $232,000 in 2003, to $391,000 at the end of 2005, driven by a market in which builders couldn’t keep pace with demand. Miami’s real estate market has since corrected, moving down 5.6 percent from its peak. "

"“In the highest growth markets, there were a lot of folks who panicked when they saw prices going up by 8, 10 or 12 percent a year and rushed to buy in,” says Kermit Baker, a senior research fellow at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. "

"“Once prices started to fall [in high growth markets], speculators got an itchy trigger finger because prices went up so high that it was very difficult to buy; affordability had gotten out of hand and people worried that if they waited six to eight months to sell, they’d be left holding the bag. The result is a short-term adjustment.”" Full Article.